The online match began and there were multiple elements of uncertainty about it. How well will Yuel and Kai be able to cooperate in Bot? How well will Ben play in Top? How well will Luke play his meme Jungle Druid? And, how will Lars handle a mage with more delicate execution like Electromancer?
In short, literally everything was uncertain about this match. But, Yuel couldn't focus on everything at once.
Based on the experiences of the last few days, Luke probably knew how to play Jungle Druid. He has already started the game on the right foot by buying Smite, a utility skill that'll greatly help him clear jungle camps.
One of the big reasons Druid was a meme as a Jungler was due to its poor camp clearing speed. So, Luke practically had to buy Smite to be able to do anything at all. As always, the guy lived up to his memeing quality, for the better and the worse.
As for Lars, it was always easy to trust that mechanical monster to handle anything that required execution. Even if he fails to do the optimal Electromancer setup on his first try, he'll optimize it in no time. He was that kind of natural beast. At most, Yuel will have to throw a few reminders in Lars's way in case that goof forgot some of the finer details of the execution.
With all that considered, Yuel didn't have to worry too much about Lars and Luke's performances. The more interesting topic was Ben. As a Top player, Ben will compete with Vincent for that spot once Yuel regains his rightful place as the Support. So, which one of the two was the better Top Laner for the team?
Right off the bat, Ben's absence from every club meeting thus far was a bad first impression. However, Ben wasn't a delinquent and it seemed he genuinely felt bad for missing club activities. Therefore, it was better to ignore the bad first impression and analyze Ben objectively. Was he a better Top than Vincent? That's all that mattered right now.
Unfortunately, Yuel played on the opposite side of the map from Ben, so it might be hard to analyze Ben's skill properly. Worst case, he'll have to watch the replay later.
For now, he'll concentrate on cooperating with Kai in the lane. This was a fresh experience and a good opportunity to better understand her as a player.
Speaking of Kai, she started off on her own while Yuel was still busy thinking about the situation. He didn't even get a chance to see what she bought.
"Why two wards?" Yuel asked while going over Kai's starting items.
"Why not?" Kai shrugged. "We gotta ward, you know."
"Yeah, but it's better to let the Support spend money on wards. We can split the burden of warding if you want but I have no problem warding everything myself."
"I prefer to do some of the warding myself. There are some areas on the map I wanted warded at all times, so I want to make sure they'll be warded."
"You can just ask me to ward there."
"It's okay, I'll handle it. You just ward where you think is best."
"Fine," Yuel gave up. He didn't know how to continue this argument. For some reason, Kai was deadset on doing some of the warding herself. This was rather rare.
Normally, Carries didn't like warding and wanted to focus on laning, kills and pushing. Lars never ever suggested to ward anything himself. He always left everything to Yuel. And, Taison was the exact same way. As far as they were concerned, warding wasn't their job. Somebody else will always ward Bot for them and that somebody was the Support.
So, it was nice to see a Carry who valued warding for a change. With that said, a Carry shouldn't ward too much, especially not during the early stages of the game. After all, there was a reason the Support started off on the same lane as the Carry in the meta.
Most Carry classes were relatively weak during the early game and their top priority was to get their build online and become a force to be reckoned with. The faster a Carry can start pushing objectives, the better. Spending gold on wards delayed the Carry's build so it wasn't something a Carry should do often early on.
Hopefully, Kai only was this persistent about warding herself during game start. If she keeps buying two wards every time she returns to base, they'll need to have a talk about it.
After Yuel and Kai cleared the Ogre Camp together with Lars, they went to Bot Lane. The enemy arrived there earlier, which wasn't surprising. Pirate's clearing speed was a little faster than Impaler's during the early game and there was nothing anybody could do about that fact. It was math.
With that in mind, Yuel and Kai had to play smart and crack the enemy down one step at a time.
During the laning phase, Kai didn't take any risks. She cleared the minions safely but efficiently. She stayed in the rear and fired basics on the enemy frontline. Impaler's passive, Deep Wounds, lowered the target's defense by a flat amount for a brief time. So, first of all, Kai hit every enemy swordsman in order to lower all their defenses.
Then, she followed up with Impale and shot her spear through the line of swordsmen. It was a good farming tactic but, unfortunately, Impale didn't deal that much damage. Especially, not during the early game. Pirate's Backfire Cannon was much stronger, so that's how the Pirate dominated the lane despite Kai's efficient setup.
Every time, a couple of minions from the enemy team outlived all allied minions. That's when the enemy's pressuring began. The Pirate and Lumimancer advanced along with their minions and tried to get as much damage as possible on Yuel and Kai.
So, Kai always retreated to the Turret in a timely fashion. From there, she did her best to kill the minions before they enter the Turret's area.
[Is the plan to keep playing defense during the early game?] Yuel wondered. He didn't get to see much of Kai's performance in Bot because he was always playing Top, so he had no idea how she normally handled disadvantageous early game scenarios. He should've watched some replays, but he deemed it irrelevant at the time. However, now that he was her Support, these things were very much relevant.
[She got a poker face 24/7, so I can't tell what's on her mind.] Yuel squinted his eyes. No matter whether things were going well or poorly, Kai's expression remained static like a statue's.
"What?" Kai glanced at Yuel.
"Nothing," Yuel averted his eyes. He was trying to read her expression but it probably looked like staring to her.
"Something on my face?"
"No, it's nothing."
"Huh." Kai dropped the topic and returned to her tablet.
In truth, there was one thing about Kai which always bothered Yuel: the black sporty cap. Why was she wearing a cap all the way down here in the basement? Surely it wasn't going to help her against the sun. No sunlight reached this godforsaken clubroom.
Thinking of it, Yuel has never seen Kai without the cap. Did she wear it to class as well? There was no school rule against it so nobody would stop her.
"What?" Kai turned to him again.
"Ah," Yuel jumped. The girl had some sort of radar for sure. "I was just wondering about your cap."
"Wanna buy one too? They sell 'em at the mall around here. It's pretty neat."
[Is it just me or she's very good at missing the point?] Yuel wondered. "No, I don't need one. I was just wondering why you're always wearing that cap, even when you're at the club."
"Why not?"
"Because we're in a basement."
"And?"
"Well, as you can probably tell, there's no sunlight down here."
"I'd be surprised if there was."
[This girl...] Yuel didn't know what else to say here. "Do you ever take it off?"
"When I shower or go to bed."
[I feel like the first mention was unnecessary.] Yuel's cheek burned a little as a rude image flashed through his mind. Though, even in that brief steamy snapshot, he still imagined Kai sporting that black cap. He never saw her without that cap so, even in his mind, he couldn't imagine how she looked without it.
With that, the small talk died down. Yuel didn't get to the bottom of the cap mystery and didn't get to see any reactions from Kai. She was one tough customer to deal with.
By the time both sides reached Lv.4, Kai's clearing speed became on par with that of the enemy Pirate. In fact, hers was a bit faster because she has been doing a great job utilizing the Impaler's passive to weaken the swordsmen's defense. So, this time, she was the one to clear the minions first.
This was a great opportunity to strike. Yuel should bring this up and-
"I'll attack," Kai announced before Yuel could make his move.
"Okay," Yuel followed along. "Then, let me create an ice-" He was too late. Kai already advanced to the frontline and activated Iron Maiden, which summoned the metallic torture device right behind the enemy Pirate.
Before the Pirate realized he was trapped, Kai fired her large spear in his direction. The impact pushed the Pirate back and shoved him right into the iron maiden. The Pirate's back rammed into the torture device and the metallic doors burst open. The iron maiden swallowed the Pirate whole as if he was a snack.
CRUNCH. It sounded like a smashed waffle. After delivering the damage, the iron maiden broke apart and revealed the stunned Pirate. This was the cue to go all out!
Like before, Kai didn't waste any time and threw spears at the stunned prey. So far, her attack was well-executed. But...
[I'm the Support. I should be initiating these kinds of plays.] Yuel made a face. It wasn't a rule set in stone, but it was usually the Support's role to initiate fights.
Yuel could've spared Kai the trouble of spend MP on Iron Maiden if she gave him time to cast Ice Wall instead. It didn't matter what kind of wall Impale shoved its target into, the impact would stun all the same. Sure, the Iron Maiden dealt some additional damage but it wasn't even enough to help to secure the kill so it was practically useless.
So, the Ice Wall play would have been superior overall. Yuel had more MP to burn and his resources were less important than the Carry's. On top of that, while Yuel was creating the Ice Wall, Kai could've already fired her Impale to lower the opponent's chances of dodging.
There was a brief recovery animation after casting Iron Maiden, so it took a moment before Kai followed up with Impale. The only reason this play worked out was that the opponent was too slow to react. Most players would have been able to dodge that telegraphed Impale.
[Well, I'll go over it later.] Yuel shifted his focus to the situation at hand. The enemy Pirate was stunned and Kai was driving him with spears but that alone wasn't going to do the job. The Pirate will have a chance to escape once he gets out of stun.
Therefore, to properly secure the kill, Yuel got close to the Pirate. He waited right until the Pirate's stun was about to run out and activated Ice Coffin, spreading chilling air in front of him. The cold hit the Pirate and froze the guy in place. From one stun into another. Nasty but beautiful.
This gave Kai enough time to seal the deal.
『An enemy has been killed!』
"Yes." Kai nodded in satisfaction. It was a quiet and brief celebration but Yuel noticed it. After all, the girl has been sitting there like a statue this entire time, so this was the first time she expressed any human emotion.
[At least she celebrates when she wins. I guess she's a human, after all.] Yuel chuckled.
"Here it is!" A loud voice boomed. "The first blood goes to Stratus! Despite playing as a duo for the first time, Beat and Chessmaster showcased perfect synergy as they took down CrazyDriver!"
[Perfect synergy? More like, barely any synergy at all.] Yuel mentally retorted. The one spreading fake news was Vincent, the only one in the room who wasn't in the match. He was following the match closely by sticking his face to Luke's PC monitor.
"With this play, Stratus seized the momentum!" Vincent went on with his nonsense. "What other surprises will this team deliver today!?"
[Are you supposed to be a commentator?] Yuel made a face. Who was Vincent even commentating for? It felt like he was being loud for the sake of drawing attention to himself.
However, Vincent's grin made it look like he genuinely enjoyed following the match and commenting on it. So, Yuel didn't say anything. But, that didn't change the fact that "perfect synergy" couldn't be farther away from describing the recent play Yuel and Kai pulled off.
"Next time," Yuel said. "If you want to get a kill with a stun combo, let me make an ice wall first."
"Hm? You mean, instead of the iron maiden?"
"Yes. There's no need for you burn MP on Iron Maiden if I can make a wall for you. I got plenty of MP to spare and, even if I run out, it's not a big deal if I leave the lane to recover. On the other hand, if you recall to base, we'll be surrendering lane control to the enemy. So, it's better to exhaust my MP instead."
"Huh, that's a noble sacrifice you're willing to make."
"That's my job as the Support," Yuel chuckled. "You know, to babysit the Carry."
"I don't need no babysitting."
"It's just a term. If you prefer, you can think of me as somebody who works under you and that it's better to work me to the bone when it saves you trouble."
"That's a pretty masochistic mindset you got there."
"That's just how it works," Yuel said. It's not like he wanted to slave away for the Carry, it's just that this was the optimal arrangement for ensuring that the Carry will grow strong and healthy. So, since this strategy was so effective, it was attractive enough to make Yuel ignore the fact he essentially had to work under the Carry. Though, in his experience, he was usually more of a babysitter than a worker. Especially, when playing with goofs like Lars and Taison.
This Bot duo arrangement meant the Support had to work hard for the sake of the Carry, but that's part of what made the role complex and fun to master. He had to ward, protect the Carry, initiate fights, and much more. It was a lot of work and he had to do all of it at the same time during the early-game. It was a lot of responsibility and rather difficult, but that's what made it rewarding.
As such, Yuel didn't appreciate it when the Carry stole some of his work. Even Ellen, who was mostly an independent Carry, still spared the time to strategize with Yuel about their upcoming plays. Ellen barely needed any babysitting compared to the other Carry goofs but she still made Yuel slave away for her as needed.
That was a world apart from what Kai just did. She just charged in all by herself without taking Yuel into account at all.
Sure, Kai did give him a heads up about her plan of attack. But, then she just went through with it without even giving Yuel a chance to react. Kai just made a last-moment announcement and had zero intention of discussing it or asking for help. That wasn't how things should work.
"The next time you want to attack," Yuel said. "Make sure to inform me ahead of time. It's better if I initiate things because that'll put me in the most danger."
"You're really raring to die, huh," Kai smirked.
"As I said, it's always better to burn the Support's resources rather than the Carry's, no matter whether's it's MP or HP."
"I don't need you to sacrifice yourself for my sake."
"It's not like I'm doing it for you. It's just more optimal. As the Support, my job is to get all the hits for the Carry during the early game. I make sure you can get enough farm during the early-game and you carry the team during mid-game. That's how we optimize the team's chances of winning."
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind."
"Please do," Yuel concluded the conversation on that note. But, did the message really get across? Kai's tone was as aloof as ever, so it was hard to tell. Yuel will have to be more assertive the next time they get a good opportunity to initiate.
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Despite Yuel and Kai's clunky cooperation during their first offense, they successfully took out the enemy Pirate. That was a huge early achievement and a First Blood to boot. It created a solid momentum for the team.
With the Pirate out of the picture, they shifted their focus toward the remaining enemy on the lane: the Lumimancer. It was a 2v1 situation, so Yuel and Kai could go for another aggressive play here. Unfortunately, the Lumimancer blinked away with Flash before Yuel could initiate anything. What a shame.
[This guy seems very cautious. Perhaps overly cautious.] Yuel took a mental note. Back when Kai attacked the Pirate, the Lumimancer didn't even try stepping in to rescue his partner. And now, with his partner dead, the Lumimcancer immediately retreated all the way back to his Turret. There was no doubt he was the defensive type.
Not getting involved against Kai's assault might have been a smart choice because Lumimancer didn't have any good tools from rescuing the Pirate from the situation. However, if he truly valued his Carry, he should've at least interfered with Blinding Light or Ray of Light before blinking away.
Judging by Kai's skill, such interference most likely wouldn't have fazed her. However, the Lumimancer couldn't have possibly known that. He should have at least tried.
Therefore, this Luminancer was either a scaredy-cat or not so experienced. He'll probably be one of the weak spots of the enemy team. To test his theory further, Yuel wanted to push hard.
During the next minion wave, Yuel's side held an overwhelming advantage thanks to Kai's clearing speed. The Lumimancer couldn't contest her on his own, especially not with a defensive Support build. So, Kai won the lane with ease.
"Let's push the Turret," Yuel suggested.
"Huh?" Kai gave him a look. "It's dangerous."
"A little, but probably not too much."
"The Lumi is still there, though."
"Yeah, but think about it: what kind of scary thing a Lumimancer can really pull?"
"Um, well," Kai cocked her head. "There's not much, huh."
"Exactly. Also, I got a feeling he'll not dare to fight us."
"A feeling?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "Are you a mind reader?"
"It's just a theory based on circumstantial evidence. Looking at how he's been playing so far, he seems to have a very defensive playstyle."
"How do you figure?"
[Here we go again with questioning.] Yuel sighed. Every single time he played with somebody new, he had to justify himself. He has already convinced Luke and Vincent to trust his observations but Kai was a new challenge. [Well, I didn't many opportunities to convince her before so I better start doing that now.]
"Remember how that Lumiancer didn't help out the Pirate?" Yuel asked.
"Yesh, I guess he didn't do much back then," Kai sounded indifferent. They clearly weren't on the same page regarding what that piece of evidence implied.
"It was more than just 'not doing much'. He maintained distance the whole time and retreated as soon as we took out the Pirate."
"You mean, as soon as [I] took down the Pirate."
"Sure. Anyway, it implies that Lumimancer doesn't like stepping to the frontline unless he's forced to."
"Sounds like jumping to conclusions to me," Kai shrugged. "You've seen him play like that just once and you're already talking like you've known him for years."
[This will never get easy, will it?] Yuel sighed. As always, making somebody trust his analysis was difficult. It always felt like he was a shady salesman who came to sell something wonky and had to prove his credibility.
As far as others were concerned, Yuel was simply making a wild guess. It made sense for them to think that way but knowing that didn't help him find a solution to the problem. He had confidence in his analysis but, in the end, most of them were just theories. There was always a chance he was wrong so he couldn't go ahead and proclaim "I'm 100% sure I'm correct! Follow my plan!"
[In times like these, vocal supporters like Vincent are really helpful.] Yuel's eyes naturally laid on the loud clown, who was busy hyping up the match right now.
Back when Yuel had to pitch his sale to Luke, it was Vincent who ultimately convinced Luke to cooperate with Yuel's shot-call. What argument did Vincent use back then? It was something very convincing, which went something like...
"I got the Mystic Eyes of Weakness Perception!" Yuel declared... Yeah, right. As if he could spout such nonsense out loud. It was mind-boggling that something so asinine managed to convince Luke.
[Would Vincent be able to convince Kai as well?] Yuel wondered. [No, I shouldn't rely on others to do my work for me. I have to resolve this myself. Somehow.]
Thinking back on it, this was one of the first challenges Aron posed on Yuel during StormBlitz's entrance exam. Already back then, Aron noticed this communication issue and pushed Yuel to work on it. However, after Yuel proved his worth in front of the entire club, this problem died out and he never had a chance to work on it. Or, rather, he didn't want to work on it. He hoped to keep playing with the same people for a long time and to never again be forced to convince anybody of anything.
But, now the problem returned to bite him in the butt and he wasn't ready. So, Yuel had to figure a way to solve it himself. He won't always have other people nearby who can do the marketing for him. He had to learn how to sell people on his skill.
So, how should he sell his current idea to Kai? How could he convince her to push against the Lumimancer without any further evidence regarding his defensive playstyle?
[Wait, didn't Vincent say something else to Luke as well?] Yuel searched his memory. Indeed, there was something else Vincent said besides the whole nonsense of the Mystic Eyes. Vincent also told Luke to "give it a shot".
In other words, Vincent didn't fully sell Luke on the idea right away. Instead, he just asked Luke to play along and see what happens.
"You're right," Yuel finally spoke up. "I've only seen that one play, so my impression of this Lumimancer might be wrong. But, that's why we should push him now and see what happens. If I'm right, he'll back off and we'll get to push for free. If not, we won't lose anything."
"Hm, I suppose," Kai took a moment to think it over. "Okay, I'm game. Let's poke him and see how things go."
[Yes!!!] Yuel pumped a fist. He did it! He convinced somebody to follow his plan! All by himself! No cheats or audience help! Yuel really did it on his own! [Did you see that, Aron? I can do it!]
It was a small thing but for Yuel it was huge. Finally, he overcame one of the most annoying hurdles ever. He probably won't run into this problem again for a while but it still felt satisfying to beat it. Now, he'll know how to deal with this issue in the future.
[I just need to ask them to give it a shot.] Yuel nodded to himself. It was such a basic thing but it didn't occur to him until now. In his mind, his reads of the enemy's behavior were akin to educated guesses and he wanted to test them. However, he failed to convey that sentiment to others, so he was always met with resistance. He'll definitely have to avoid problems like that in the future if he wants to become a shot-caller on the same level as Howard.
Following Yuel's idea, he and Kai invaded the enemy's Turret area. As Yuel suspected, the Lumimancer didn't get in their way. The guy maintained his distance and only fired at minions from afar. He'd have to commit and advance to the frontline if he wanted to hit Kai or Yuel and he clearly had no intention of doing so.
"No balls, huh," Kai shook her head.
Thanks to this push, they shaved off 20% from the Turret's HP. Hopefully, all these plays will convince Kai to trust him a little more as her Support. Yuel made it clear he'll properly ward the area, he helped her secure a kill on the Pirate and now he also came up with this great push opportunity.
So, it was about time this lone wolf started trusting him, right? Unfortunately, things weren't so easy.
Shortly after they finished pushing the Turret and retreated, the enemy Pirate returned to lane. The tug of war on the lane began once more but this time Kai had a clear advantage. She out-leveled the Pirate by one level so her attacks were stronger.
On top of that, Pirate was a class that relied on getting ahead through extra gold. So, without that advantage, it was a rather subpar class. That one early kill Kai scored on the Pirate set the guy back in a big way.
Kai was leading in the wave clearing by a mile. But, right before she finished the entire wave, she advanced toward the frontline for no apparent reason. She summoned an iron maiden behind the Pirate and fired Impale at him.
Yes, just like that. Out of the blue, she opened an attack without planning ahead or even warning Yuel. This was even worse than last time.
"Wha..." Yuel was taken aback. Didn't they just talk about this a few minutes ago? [Damn, I'm too far away to extend the stun with Ice Coffin. The Pirate will get away.]
Yuel scanned the mini-map. Fortunately, Luke wasn't too far away.
"Luke," Yuel called out and drew a path on the mini-map. "Can you come here to gank along this path? The Pirate will probably retreat soon."
"Alright, gotcha," Luke replied. "You gotta have to help me if he got HP, though. I can't burst for shit."
"Right." With any normal Jungler, a simple gank should be able to finish off an injured opponent. However, Druid was a "setup" type of ganker. He could stop an enemy in their tracks but he needed somebody else to help with the damage. So, it was up to Yuel to arrange the follow-up.
Kai drilled the stunned enemy with flying spears and then went for her ult: A Thousand Impales. Countless spears penetrated through the ground below the Pirate. They cut through the Pirate and knocked him into the air. The damage was high because the Pirate was hit while stunned and, on top of that, he was air-bound now.
So, this gave Kai another opportunity to fire at the helpless Pirate. But, the Pirate performed a Dodge Roll in mid-air and dodged her next spear.
Nevertheless, the knock-up effect was strong enough and slowed down the Pirate's escape. This gave Yuel more than enough time to catch up and secure the kill. However, unlike him, Kai didn't seem too interested in chasing.
"Kai," Yuel called out. "Let's chase the Pirate. We can get a kill."
"Can we?" Kai tilted her head. "I think he gonna get away. See? He used Backfire to get out."
"I asked Luke to gank. We can catch up."
"You're so sure about it," Kai was as uncooperative as ever. This was the time for Yuel to pull his new trick.
"Let's just give it a shot. The Lumimancer is also retreating and the enemy Jungler is on the other side of the lane, so we won't be in any danger if we chase. We either get the kill or we don't. We won't lose anything."
"Huh, I guess t," Kai nodded and joined the chase, albeit with a slight delay.
[Okay, now everything is riding on Luke's setup ability.] Yuel nodded to himself. It was difficult to consistently land Nature's Grasp due to its thin width, so it'll be interesting to see how Luke fares. If he was truly the almighty memer he claimed to be, he better nail this play.
Fortunately, Luke got to the scene on time. He cut off the Pirate and fired Nature's Grasp right before the Pirate reached his Turret. It was a hit! The branches grabbed the Pirate and dragged him back toward the Druid. Checkmate. The Pirate was captured.
Yuel erected an ice wall right in front of the Pirate to stall him even further. Unfortunately that alone wasn't enough. Kai had to be the one to deal the finishing blow but she was too far away because she started late. From this position, the Pirate might still get away if nothing was done.
But, Yuel already determined this was a checkmate. The final move to guarantee the kill was to apply extra CC on the Pirate. While the Pirate was maneuvering around the ice wall, Yuel caught up and unleashed Ice Coffin.
That's it. The Pirate was down for. Kai arrived at the scene and delivered two heavy blows.
『An enemy has been killed!』
"Good job, guys!" Luke saluted to Yuel and Kai.
"Thanks," Kai said.
"It was a solid gank," Yuel nodded in approval. "Have to say, you know your Jungler Druid."
"C'mon, man," Luke laughed. "You make me blush."
"Ya better tape that, dude," Lars chuckled. "Dude never praises anybody. If ya got his seal of approval, it means ya pro level material, yo."
[I'm not THAT bad, am I?] Yuel made a face. It's true he tended to criticize players a lot but he'd drop a nice word every now and then when somebody did well. Especially, when somebody pulled off a difficult skill-shot like Nature's Grasp. Yuel had to practice for a long time before he started landing that thing on enemies.
In the end, this uncoordinated play miraculously converted into a kill. However, that didn't mean Kai's solo attack was good. Far from it. That play was irresponsible and wasteful in every way. There were other, much more efficient, ways to secure a kill there. But, instead, Kai went In alone and wasted a lot of resources for no good reason. Kai even wasted her ult on this. It was so unnecessary.
"What was that play?" Yuel asked. "You should've told me you're going to aggress."
"Ah, right," Kai agreed but there was no hint of remorse in her tone. "I saw the Pirate had bad positioning so I went for it without thinking much. I didn't want to let that opportunity slide. You're right, I forgot to inform you."
"It would be great if you refrain from that kind of solo activity. We're supposed to work as a pair. As I said, you should use my resources when you can. You even wasted your ult there."
"Yesh, I thought I'll get him after the ult but he reacted well."
"If you just told me you were planning to attack, I could've arranged the same setup as last time. We would've secured the kill without wasting your ult that way."
"I don't see the amazing line of play you had in mind," Kai admitted. "But, you're the Challenger here so I guess you know what you're talking about."
"I'd like to believe so. Anyway, please, don't go for solo plays like that while I'm here. Let me initiate the fight and set up the kill for you."
"You're really bossy for a Support," Kai gave him a look.
"I'm pretty sure that's how the optimal dynamic between the Support and Carry should be. What do [you] think the Support is?"
"The guy who got stuck in Bot with the Carry because there aren't enough lanes for five players."
"Sounds like a very sad story."
"I know, right?" Kai chuckled. "What I really think about the Support? Well, not much, really. They're here to help me out from time to time, that's about it."
"That's all?" Yuel blinked. That was a disgustingly low evaluation of the Support's importance. Worst of all, it didn't even sound like Kai was trying to make fun of the role or anything. She just genuinely didn't find much value in the Support's presence. [Wow, this is... I have no words.]
"So," Yuel started. "You don't trust your Support to help you out and create opportunities for you?"
"Sometimes. But, I rather not rely on that," Kai shrugged. "I can win fights and get kills on my own. I don't need somebody to 'babysit' me."
"Babysitting is just a snazzy term. It's not that anybody is underestimating the Carry. It's just that the Carry is the pivot of the team and usually vulnerable during the early game. So, the Carry is very important but also very fragile by design."
"I'm not fragile."
"I'm talking about the classes, not the players," Yuel shook his head. "Marksmen are designed to have the highest DPS but, in exchange, they're some of the easiest classes to kill. A Carry who lags behind is going to drag the entire team down, so it's crucial to prevent that from happening. That's where the Support comes into the picture and takes the job of guarding the Carry."
"You're lecturing me like I don't know all that stuff," Kai rolled her eyes. "Looks you take your 'babysitting' quite literally, huh."
"Well," Yuel smiled wryly. "Let's just say that some of the Carries I played with are... a little special."
"Like Lars?"
"Like Lars," Yuel chuckled. In the case of that goof, being a Support was truly "babysitting" in every sense of the word. When they just started playing together, Lars's decision-making was godawful and Yuel had to lead the guy 24/7. Fortunately, the goof was steadily learning and, right now, he was even playing independently in Mid without getting any advice from Yuel.
『An enemy has been killed!』
Lars scored a kill in Mid. Yuel didn't catch all the details but he knew Lars has been pressuring the enemy hard for a while now. At some point, the enemy Sorcerer must have become fed up with the situation and attempted to assault Lars. However, Lars struck back and crushed the Sorcerer.
Yuel wasn't involved in this process at all. Lars handled everything himself from start to end. Truly, the goof has been growing into a fine player. It was a little emotional, like watching your baby grow up.
"You know," Yuel smiled. "When Lars started out, he was terrible. A literal baby who couldn't tell left from right. So yeah, in his case, I'd say I had to 'babysit' him in the truest sense of the word."
"You have my condolences," Kai said.
"But, he has improved a lot since then and I only give him advice every now and then. So, at this point, he's good enough to just go out there and get kills by himself as you do. In fact, no offense, but he'd likely do a much better job than you at securing kills on his own."
"You sure like singing praises to that guy. How about you just marry him?"
"It's just a fact," Yuel said. "Fight him 1v1 and you'll understand how easily he can overwhelm most opponents. And yet, when he plays Carry, he still relies on me, his Support. He knows that, no matter what amazing plays he can pull off on his own, he'll be able to do even more if he cooperates with the Support."
"Is that so," Kai shrugged. "In the end, it's the Carry who gets the job done. The Support is just there to provide some help."
"Even though the role is called 'Support', the Support and the Carry are partners. They're supposed to consult each other and decide on a game plan together. It shouldn't be the Carry's one-man show while Support is just kinda there to help sometimes maybe. No, the Support and Carry are supposed to work together."
"Did you flip some sort of 'lecturer switch'?" Kai made a face. "Alright, I get it already. I'll make sure to tell you the next time I attack."
"I'm trying to say that's not good enough," Yuel insisted. "You shouldn't only focus on [your] plays and inform me about them as if I'm an afterthought. It's fine if you want to be the one to call the shots and decide when we go on the offensive but make sure you make that judgment with both of us in mind."
"Not gonna lie, you're such a bossy Support," Kai sighed. "I dunno. What you're saying sounds too idealistic to me. I've played more than enough matches where I got bitten in the ass for trusting the Support to do stuff."
"Is Vincent a bad Support?"
"Nah, that idiot is fine," Kai said. "Like, he's not amazing and I can already see why he's praising you as the superior Support. But, he gets the job done. He usually follows up on my plays in time and helps me out. That's all I need."
"But, he doesn't call you out for making selfish plays, does he? I see."
"To be honest," Kai said. "You're the first Support I met who cares about that stuff so much. Ben played Support for me before and he didn't say anything either. He just did his job and helped me out as a proper Support should."
"So, you're saying I'm the odd one out?" Yuel smiled wryly. From what he could tell, Vincent and Ben preferred playing Top so Support wasn't their main role. And, even it were, Yuel most likely had a deeper understanding of the role than them. So, it made sense he came across as a very different type of Support.
"I understand," Yuel said. "You're not used to playing with a Support who dictates you how to move."
"Oh, so you actually understand how bossy you are."
"But, how about you give it a try this game?" Yuel asked. "Tell me ahead of time when you want to go on the offensive and let me initiate. Then, judge for yourself how effective that approach is."
"Sounds like a pain," Kai rolled her eyes. "But, alright. You've been making some good calls so far. I can play along with that."
"Thank you," Yuel meant that sincerely but it felt rather sarcastic. Why did he even have to work so hard to convince his lane partner to cooperate? It should have been common sense for the Support and Carry to work together on everything.
[Has Vincent never brought that up before when playing with Kai?] Yuel wondered.
Vincent wasn't a bad Support. During the past week, the Bot duo of Kai and Vincent has been doing perfectly fine. However, it seemed like Vincent allowed Kai to get away with her selfishness and did his best to followed up on her plays.
That was admirable in its own way because Yuel couldn't stand playing like that. He believed the Support and Carry were equals on the lane and had to cooperate on everything to draw out their maximum potential. It wasn't the Carry's one-man show.
[At least, Kai is listening.] Yuel only had that to console him.
Despite Kai's self-centered way of thinking while making her plays, she lent an ear to Yuel and even agreed to try doing things his way. Truly, the phrase "give it a try" became Yuel's trump card today. He should use it every time he tries to convince somebody to make a play.
Now, with Kai convinced, the responsibility fell on Yuel's shoulder. His supporting this game was going to either make or break it. If he puts on a strong show, Kai will be more willing to cooperate from now on. On the other hand, if he messes up, it'll be tough to make her trust her Support ever again. The next play will critical.
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